The first July 4 celebration in New Braunfels took place in 1845, just four months after the first emigrants crossed the Guadalupe into what would be the “Neu Heimat” (New home). A lot has happened historically since that first Independence celebration. For one thing, two statues were placed on the Main Plaza commemorating the men who fought in the Civil War and World War I. This is their story.

One statue located on the Main Plaza is called “Spirit of the American Doughboy”. Doughboy became a nickname for American soldiers in World War I and it stuck. No one knows where the name comes from but the term supposedly goes back long before the Civil War. In WWI both Americans and British soldiers were called Doughboys. Originally the term was not a compliment. Herman Melville in “Moby Dick” calls the cabin steward a doughboy suggesting a negative comparison to the sun burnt whalers and harpooners. Later the US Army cavalry looked down on the infantry calling them Doughboys, referring to the shape of the infantrymen’s buttons on their jackets that looked like dumplings .Whatever, it was not a compliment and mostly mocked the American infantryman. After WWI, Doughboy became a popular name for all American troops. This changed by WWII when American service men were called G.I.s or Yanks. Doughboys are now mostly associated with WWI.

Doughboy (we’ll call the statue that name) was placed on the Main Plaza in 1937 in observance of the 19th anniversary of the Armistice of WWI. It is in full uniform complete with pack, helmet, grenade and rifle. The granite base contains tree stumps and barbed wire. There it remained for 49 years until it was run over by an inebriated driver in 1986. The statue broke into five pieces, losing its head, both arms and half a leg. A clever Herald writer quipped “A farewell to arms”.

When the statue was knocked off of its rather large base, an unexpected tombstone was revealed on which the statue stood. It had an inscription on it: “T. Stokely M. Holmes, born Aug 21, 1828, died July 28, 1905. A kind affectionate husband, a fond father and a friend to all”. How this tombstone became part of the Doughboy is not known. Looking up that name in Ancestry.com, one finds this person buried in the Tuttle Cemetery in Guadalupe County: “Stokely M. Holmes, b Aug 21, 1828 and d July 28, 1905”. Obviously the Doughboy tombstone was rejected because it had incorrect information. It has rested under Doughboy since 1937.

Who was the sculptor of Doughboy? E.M. Viquesney was the sculptor of the cast zinc statue. He was a “chip off the old block” because his grandfather, Charles Alfred Viquesney was a stone carver in France who came to the US in 1842. Then Charles Alfred’s son, also Alfred, followed in his father’s trade with a stone carving business, making monuments and carvings of angels, crosses and other figures. These figurines were very popular as early decorations of gravesites. Viquesney, the sculptor of Doughboy, learned the business from his father.

Viquesney designed monuments at Clark’s Monument Works. He went on to design and sculpt many other memorials during his lifetime, too many to name here. They ranged from a Confederate War Memorial to his last sculpture in 1946 titled “Last of the Comrades”. All of his sculptures honored war heroes. Sadly, following completion of “Last of the Comrades”, Visquesney took his own life.

In 1921, the Doughboy sculptor won a national American Legion award for design. With the success of the Doughboy statue he received orders all over the United States for replicas. In Texas alone this Doughboy can be seen in Canyon, Crowell, Ft. Worth, Grosebeck, Lufkin, Sinton, Wichita Falls, Vernon, Texarkana and New Braunfels.

With this success, he produced 12 inch replicas of this statue. This is a common practice for sculptors and he sold as many as 25,000 of these miniatures. One of the miniatures was given by Viquesney to President Warren Harding and one was given to Gen. George Pershing. He also made lamps, and candleholders and incense burners in the shape of the statue .The last Doughboy statue was produced in 1942. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there was one of these miniatures in someone’s attic right here in New Braunfels.

Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Clousnitzer had originally presented money in 1937 to the local American Legion to purchase both the Doughboy statue and another statue placed on the south side of the Plaza called “To the Memory of our Fallen Soldiers of the Civil War 1861-65”, honoring all soldiers of that war. The statue actually honors both sides of the Civil War, the Confederacy and the Union, because both sides in this conflict in Comal County lost soldiers in that war.

Another move took place when New Braunfels was getting ready to celebrate its Sesquicentennial in 1996. After refurbishing both statue soldiers and replacing stolen guns, they were placed on the same side of Main Plaza and rededicated in 1997. Both statues are now on the north side of the Plaza. Does this placement seem a little confusing to you? This might help: Hermann Seele said that when Nicholas Zink was plotting out the streets of NB, he followed the wagon trails, more or less. If you go to Main Plaza with a compass, you will find that North and South Seguin actually go in a northwest and southeast direction and West and East San Antonio go in a southwest and northeast direction. I suggest that you just go down there and find the statues yourself.

When you go to downtown to see the Sophienburg’s July 4th Parade, make your acquaintance with these two statues and remember the ones they honor.

The Sophienburg July 4th celebration begins with the lineup of parade participants at 8:30 at the Sts. Peter & Paul parking lot. The Community Band plays on the Plaza at 8:34. Then a Commemorative Air Force fly-over should take place at 9:10, followed by the parade and program on the Plaza. Call 830-629-1572 for parade entry reservations.

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From Union St., turn onto Common and drive straight to the Guadalupe River. At the bridge and on the east side of the river, as far as you can see, look left and right. You are looking at Hortontown. Down river to the right of Hortontown was Neighborsville. These two areas are referred to by these names only historically. Beginning in 1846, when sickness was rampant on the coast and in New Braunfels, and emigrants were still arriving, Hortontown was settled to avoid going into the sickness- infested town. Neighborsville followed a few years later. Both areas were originally in Guadalupe County but were added to Comal County and also to the City of New Braunfels.

From the bridge, you will notice a gradual incline up to Loop 337. Turn right on the loop, and right before the railroad overpass, turn left on Church Hill Drive. Across the road from Conservation Plaza, a church was built in 1852. It was the St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and next to it, in 1870, a school was built. The Church Hill School served the children of both Hortontown and Neighborsville.

Hortontown was named after Albert C. Horton who came to Texas from Alabama in 1835. He became an active supporter of the Texas Revolution. From 1836-38 he served as senator in the 1st and 2nd congress of the Republic of Texas. He became the first Lt. Gov. of the new state of Texas. Leopold Iwonski became the agent for Horton’s land grant.

The settlement of Neighborsville was laid out by Jacob de Cordoba who designated a lot for the establishment of the church and parochial school. In 1870 the church congregation decided to build a separate building for their school. And that school became the Church Hill School.

The Church Hill School was built of 18” thick hand- cut limestone blocks brought by wagon from a hill country quarry. The doors and floor are also original. The appointments are from other rural Comal County one-room schools.

Martha Rehler, Exec. Director of the Conservation Society, took me on a tour. There is nothing as empty as an empty classroom. Going into the abandoned school, that strange feeling returned. A classroom needs children.

There were wooden desks of all sizes with a hole in the top for an ink bottle. They still had those when I was in elementary school. Our fountain pens had a little bladder that had to be filled with ink. What a mess! In this old classroom the teacher sat in the back of the room by the door. I’m surprised she didn’t notice the initials carved in the older students’ desk, probably by a pocket knife which I’m told, was every boy’s toy. Slate boards were on each desk taking the place of paper. The large chalkboard (black, later green) had the lesson for the day in German script (Fraktur).

Other relics are a long table from the Ursaline Academy in San Antonio displaying photographs of groups of school children. Water was drawn out of a well or a cistern and put in a portable water fountain. There are two large bells. The smaller of the two at one time stood in front of the Guadalupe Hotel (Plaza) which was a stagecoach stop. The bell was used to welcome arrivals. The larger was a school bell to call students.

Rehler gave me a “Texas Public School’s Report Card from 1925 that parents had to fill out about their own child. It was for a 7th grade girl going into the 8th grade. I put myself in my mother’s shoes, evaluating her only chick on a scale of 1 to 100. Knowing that I was a “city girl” in New Braunfels, I would have failed miserably. I would have a “0” in canning, care of stock, care of poultry, cooking, gardening, general farm work, milking, providing fuel, sewing, and sweeping,. I would have done fairly well in dusting, washing dishes, obedience, neatness, reliability and special work. In my case, special work would have been socializing.

The St. Martin’s Church, originally adjoined to the old Church Hill School, was moved in 1968 next to the Hortontown Cemetery on Loop 337. The school remained and was eventually donated to the Conservation Society in 1975 to be used as a museum.

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On May 19th the Sophienburg Museum and Archives will present a Civil War Exhibit about what was happening here in Comal County during the war and the period of Restoration which followed it. One segment of the exhibit, sponsored jointly by the NB German American Society, will feature the art work of Carl Iwonski (1830-1912). Art work can tell us much about the times.

The first time that the Iwonski name appeared in historical literature was in 1847 when Leopold Iwonski, father of Carl, and a group of disgruntled citizens appeared outside the Sophienburg where Adelsverein’s second Commissioner General, John Meusebach, was residing. That night the Iwonskis, along with others they had recruited, demanded that Meusebach come outside and either honor their land contracts in the Llano region or give their money back. The crowd became agitated and insisted that Meusebach be hanged on the spot.

The von Iwonski family hails from the present Polish area of Silisia, originally a province until 1526, when it was overtaken by Austria. Then in 1742 it was overtaken by the Prussian state of Germany and finally returned to Poland in 1945 after WWII. When artist Carl Iwonski was born, it was part of Germany and his ancestral roots are Polish.

Political turmoil seemed to surround Leopold Iwonski. “He was described as an expelled Prussian” and he was no longer welcome in his native land. (Source: “John O. Meusebach”, Irene Marshall King)

Leopold Iwonski, his wife, and two children emigrated to New Braunfels with the Adelsverein in 1845. Carl was 15 at the time. The family moved across the Guadalupe into Hortontown, then in Guadalupe County. Iwonski became the land agent for owner Albert C. Horton, selling 50 acre tracts. He retained 41 acres of land for his farm. Young Carl Iwonski spent his early years clearing the land and helping his father construct the family home. In 1847 the home became a stagecoach inn and saloon, as it was on the Nacogdoches crossing of the Guadalupe. We learn from Carl’s painting what the interior of the tavern looked like.

Carl and his brother, Adolph, involved themselves with New Braunfels activities. They joined the Turnverein. His drawings of amateur theater in 1854 tell us what the stage and scenery looked like. Also his picture of Seele’s Saengerhalle is perhaps the only rendition we have of that building. The Iwonski exhibit features 25 original pencil or ink renditions of actors and actresses on stage at the Saengerhalle. Many of the characters on stage are recognizable, Hermann Seele being one of them.

Eventually, Iwonski and his parents moved to San Antonio where he taught drawing at the German-English school. He became a professional photographer with William DeRyee. DeRyee left San Antonio before the Civil War, but Iwonski kept the studio open.

Carl Iwonski was a Unionist. He was an admirer of fellow Unionist Sam Houston who refused to sign the oath of the Confederacy. In 1857 Ferdinand Lindheimer, editor of the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung, announced that a portrait of Sam Houston by Iwonski would be on display at the Saengerhalle theater.

At a time when many German Unionists of the Hill Country were being arrested or killed, somehow Iwonski managed to avoid conscription. Check out Sophienburg.com, Nov. 3, 2009.

Immediately after the war, the Unionists in San Antonio hoisted the American flag over the Alamo. Both Carl and his father were staunch Unionist Republicans. Carl drew a very controversial cartoon in the newspaper showing the Democrats’ exit from their public offices as a result of their affiliation with the Confederacy. With a Union victory, Iwonski became tax collector of San Antonio, however, when the Democrats swept office in the next election of 1872, Iwonski was out of office and he left for Germany. The next year he returned to SA and completed portraits of many prominent families. After the death of his father in 1872, Carl and his mother returned to Silisia.

Iwonski’s panoramic painting of New Braunfels tells us much about NB’s early days. The recently rediscovered10x10 ft. Prussian Council of War, 1870 oil on canvas will be featured. The rest of the Civil War exhibit, opening May 19th, will be just as interesting.

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Would you like to know what was on the property on which our present Comal County Courthouse sits? If so, read on.

When Nicholas Zink laid out the town of New Braunfels, with its main plaza and streets leading to it, he was given the town lot #32 by the Adelsverein for his efforts. Town lot #32 is the lot on which our present courthouse is built. Zink built a house on this lot in 1845. In 1847, the year that Zink and his first wife were divorced, he began selling his property in New Braunfels and eventually left altogether.

Zink sold lot #32 to Samuel Millet dated January 21st, 1847, who used the house as a hotel. Millet, in turn, sold the house in 1852 to Dan Wheeler and Wheeler sold it to Karl Floege in 1866. (Source: County Clerk’s office, book A, deeds p. 35) The family moved to a farm outside of Seguin.

Samuel Millet who was originally from Maine has a Texas Historical Marker at his gravesite in Guadalupe County. It states that he had come to Texas in 1827 and died in 1863. Records show his birth as 1801. He came to Texas as a member of Stephen F. Austin’s colony. During the Texas Revolution, he took part in the battle of San Jacinto.

In 1833, he married Clementina Bartlett and they had nine children. She was also with Austin’s colony and from Tennessee. She married her teacher, Samuel Millett, who was a graduate of Bowdoin College. Family tradition claims that Clementina at age 90 could recall early history of the Republic and those who were instrumental in its founding.

Harry Landa, in his memoirs “As I Remember” writes that his father, Joseph Landa, made this statement about the hotel: “Old lady Millett, mother of the well-known cattleman, Alonzo Millett, was operating a boarding house at the corner where the Comal County Courthouse now stands. The Landas boarded for a few months at Mrs. Millett’s establishment until they bought the adjoining property on the Plaza”.

Alonzo Millett, one of Samuel Millett’s sons, made a name for himself in the ranching business. In “The Traildrivers of Texas”, Alonzo Millett is described as spending his boyhood days in Bastrop County and Seguin where he attended school. When the Civil War broke out, he and his brothers volunteered in the Confederate army. Alonzo was only 16 and his twin brother, Leonidas, was killed. After the war, the surviving brothers returned to Texas and over the years that followed, gained wealth by accumulating ranches in several states. “Misfortune came and their wealth was swept away”.(Traildrivers…)  Alonzo persevered and when he died, he owned a large ranch in San Juan Valley, Colorado. He was killed by being thrown by a horse and then buried in San Antonio. Thirty-five miles south of San Antonio was a small settlement named “Millett” after Alonzo. Many local and Seguin Milletts are descendants of Alonzo Millett and his wife, Arlene Wilson Millett.

Now back to the present courthouse: Early on, Comal County conducted its business in rented rooms, then to a privately owned building on Seguin St. (Elks parking lot). In 1860 the first two-story courthouse was built on the corner occupied by Chase Bank. In 1999 the present courthouse celebrated its 100th birthday. (For more information about this courthouse, log on to Sophienburg.com, Jan. 20, 2009)

Our present courthouse was originally designed to sit in the middle of the Main Plaza with four easy accesses. When that plan fell through, the present location was chosen. The jail was added later, obscuring two entrances and another closed to add more office space. When this present restoration is complete, the original four entrances will once again be usable.

Nothing is left of the Millett Hotel, as the building was torn down shortly before the new courthouse was started. Behind the present courthouse where a parking area was located by the jail, a water well was discovered. The Texas Historic Commission evaluated the dry well and said that it pre-dated the Courthouse.  The well would have been in the right spot for use by the hotel. It was recently filled in with sand to protect its integrity and to prevent a cave-in. The last remnant of an era.

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Detail of K. W. Pressler & W. Völker 1851 map of Texas. This map was issued as part of G. M. von Ross’ 1851 book, Der Nordamerikanische Freistaat Texas.

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Among a stack of “orphaned” papers, I found an old map of Texas. “Orphans” are those papers or artifacts that either were inadvertently separated from their donor connection or that showed up randomly at the back door of the Sophienburg Museum in a box.

This map was cut into rectangles and mounted on a linen canvas so it could be folded into a small booklet; it is missing its front and back cardstock covers. Titled, “Map of Texas, Compiled from Surveys at the Land Office of Texas by K. W. Presler & W. Völker, Geometers of the Land Offices of Texas”, this beautiful engraved topographical map depicts Texas counties established prior to 1851 along with rivers, creeks, pioneer routes and towns. There is also an octagonal card glued to it that has “G. M. v Ross1852” written in German script.

The names gave me some starting points to find out more about the map. Turns out, this is a pretty cool, pretty rare, and remarkably accurate map.

I researched G. M. v Ross. George Moerner von Ross was an American of German descent. That little “v” in his name stands for “von”, the German word “of or from”, which usually signifies that a man is landed gentry and not your basic peasant immigrant from Germany. Ross wrote several travel/informational books for Germans considering immigration to the US of A: (1848) Rathschläge und Warnungen (a book of advice on immigration); (1851) Der Nordamerikanische Freistaat Texas (describes Texas climate, geography, animals, biology and minerals); (1851) Des Auswanderers Handbuch (includes a section on Texas).

This map was issued with George M. v Ross’ 1851 Freistaat Texas. The Texas Handbook says, “Ross was for a time associated with Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer in the publication of the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung.” George M. indeed appears in advertisements in the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung in early 1853. The paper also includes his obituary which states that he was co-editor of the NB Zeitung and also the editor of the Allgemeinen Auswanderungs Zeitung. He died on his farm in Sisterdale in October 1856. So, the map might actually have been his.

I also wanted to know about the map’s maker, K. W. Pressler. Karl Wilhelm Pressler was born in Prussia in 1823. Karl studied cartography and surveying and upon graduation, he worked for the Prussian government (or as a civil servant). Dissatisfied with most everything about Prussia, Karl, like many other young men his age, became certain that his destiny awaited him in Texas. Pressler joined the Adelsverein and landed in Galveston in February 1846, right as Texas officially became the 28th state to join the United States.

Karl joined three other German lads and tried out farming. It was a “no go” for him and he made his way to Austin. There, he became friends with a fellow German immigrant who was drawing maps for the Texas General Land Office. He managed to get a 2-month job with the GLO and spent his days drawing maps from 9-12 and 2-5. After his job ended, he travelled a bit and met Jacob de Cordova.

Cordova was also an immigrant, not from Germany, but from Jamaica. He became successful as a land agent in Philadelphia before he turned his eyes on Texas. Here he found more land than even he knew what to do with. For us in New Braunfels, Cordova is important for founding the community of Neighborsville in 1847 (Milltown) and naming many of the creeks in the Canyon Lake area. Cordova lived on the Guadalupe/Comal County border on his land, “Wanderers Retreat” for several years.

In August 1846, when young, 23 year-old Pressler met Cordova, he was made head of Cordova’s surveying expeditions of 1846 and 1847. Pressler also fact-and-quality-checked Cordova’s first map of Texas issued in 1849. Jacob de Cordova founded the city of Waco that same year. Karl, or Charles as he would come to be known, also surveyed in Guadalupe County. That makes sense. He was probably bunking at Wanderer’s Retreat with the Cordova family.

In 1850, Karl Pressler became a full-time draftsman in the Texas General Land Office. He was promoted to principal draftsman in 1858 and chief draftsman in 1865. With a short stint of service as an engineer for the Confederacy and also city engineer of Galveston, Pressler served at the Texas GLO until he retired in 1899.

Our little orphan map, issued along with G.M. v Ross’s book, is the first map K.W. Pressler drew and published. It was followed by another revised and corrected map of de Cordova’s and then his own map of Texas issued in 1858. The 1858 Pressler map was considered to be the most accurate map of Texas that had been produced and took him four years to create from records he found at the GLO. It faithfully depicted rivers, creeks, mountains, pioneer routes, forts, locations of Native-American tribes, towns and counties. The Texas Legislature appropriated $1,000 to purchase copies of Pressler’s 1858 Texas map for placement in each county clerk’s office in the state. Pressler revised his map again in1862, but it was not widely circulated due to the Civil War. Revised and reissued in 1867, it was known as the Traveler’s Map of the State of Texas. He is also credited as the creator of maps for 38 counties in Texas.

Pressler died in 1907 in Austin.

But this is not the end of this story. While researching Mr. Pressler, I found that Oscar Haas was given a collection of letters that new Texan Karl wrote home to his family in Prussia. These letters tell his story of immigration, finding work, surveying the Texas Hill Country, dances, living conditions and include descriptions of the people he met. Be on the lookout for more on this intrepid and adventurous young man.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum: Oscar Haas Collection, Neu Braunfelser Zeitung Collection; Heritage Auctions; Texas State Historical Association: George M. von Ross, Karl Wilhelm Pressler; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Karl Wilhelm Pressler; Texas Historical Commission: Texas Time Travel: Charles Pressler’s Map of the State of Texas.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

We are fortunate to live in a community proud of its heritage, culture and architecture. Our historic districts and downtown are proof of that pride. It seems so very idyllic, people creating a community by the river, building homes and businesses. The town prospers and new brick buildings to replacing the first crude wooden structures so that they will last. Or do they?

Those that we still see close to Main Plaza seem to be surviving, but a number of lavish 19th- and early 20th-century homes were torn down to make way for business structures. Think Landa mansion or the Timmermann house. I think of them as “ghost homes,” because the memory of their haunting beauty is all that is left.

One such ghost home stood on the corner of W. San Antiono Street and Academy Avenue where it was first occupied by the Holz family. Nicholas Holz, at age 20, immigrated from Germany in 1852. He was a blacksmith and wheelwright by trade who did well over the years. His son, Adolph, joined him in N. Holz & Son Implement Co. and in 1908, they built a large two-story building at 474 W. San Antonio St. to sell farm implements, buggies, and wagons. In 1909, Nicholas retired from business and it was sold to Bartels, Sands & Co.

That same year, Adolph Holz engaged architect Carl von Seutter of San Antonio to design a magnificent home at 417 W. San Antonio St. Von Seutter was well known for designing the now-historic home for Otto Koehler, founder of the San Antonio Brewing Association which became Pearl Brewing Company.

The magnificent home was built by Christian Herry for $15,000 with a crew of about 15, including his sons. Louis Herry was the project superintendent. Son Otto was the masonry foreman and son Alfred was a plasterer. The house was a two-story brick with elements of both Greek Revival and Beaux Arts styles of architecture. The building’s symmetry was offset by gabled front and side-porch porticos. Large, ornate Corinthian columns supported double galleries with heavy balustrades, gracefully wrapping around the front and side of the house.

The opulence of the interior was testament to the owner’s wealth. The grand staircase and house trims were all dark wood. The entry hall floor was parquet laid out in 12-nch sheets. The living room walls had special designs created in plaster to look like large picture frames without the pictures. A mural in a tree pattern was painted on the dining room walls. At the back of the house was a solarium with black and white tiles with a view of a magnolia tree.

The tin roof was crafted to resemble Spanish tile. Beneath the house, a large basement held a washroom and a storage space for wood carried upstairs in a dumbwaiter. Behind the house was a carriage house/livery that eventually became a garage.

After the elder Holzs died in 1910 and 1915, Adolph turned his sales savvy to real estate development. He and his wife raised their four children while enjoying a healthy social life. He was neighbors with George Eiband and Wm. Clemens. Things seemed to go south, however, when multiple lawsuits over real estate compensation were filed against Adolph and wife, Hulda, in the early ‘20s. Multiple properties were sold on the courthouse steps to satisfy their debts, including the implement building at 474 and a storefront at 301 W. San Antonio (now Clay Casa) in 1921. The house was sold to Otto Timmermann Sr. for $19,500 (about $2.5 million today) in 1924 before she and Adolph moved to San Antonio. Hulda died in 1925 after a long illness. Adolph ended up working as a farm laborer in Atascosa County for a time before living out his life with daughter and son-in-law, Ella and Harry Kastener in Milltown.

The next resident of the house was Otto Timmermann Sr. He was the son of Heinrich “Henry” Timmermann, who immigrated in 1850. Mr. Timmermann and wife, Alma Stautzenberger, of Guadalupe County, were farmers. He was said to be the land baron of Geronimo Creek. Upon his retirement, they moved into the old Holz mansion.

Otto Sr. lived in the home about 14 years until his death in 1938. Mrs. Timmermann continued to live in the house on the first floor. After World War II, when returning soldiers took up most of the town’s apartments for rent, Mrs. Timmermann rented out the top floor as a separate apartment. The second floor had a small kitchen, a living room, bedrooms and one bathroom in the hall. One of the bedrooms had six windows. Boarders had to use the back stairs and door, never the main entrance.

Mrs. Timmermann died in 1960. In 1962, the estate sold her house to Rudy Seidel. He used it as a temporary warehouse for hi-fidelity consoles, radios, cameras and electronic flash equipment for Seidel Camera next door. The house was then sold to Howard Hoerster.

It was said that the house had fallen into disrepair, but as a little girl, I looked at that house every time we passed by on the way to my Oma’s house. The grand entryway out front was huge in my eyes. I really wanted to be able to go inside one day, but that was not to be. In January of 1964, the beautiful, old, stately mansion was torn down. I cried. At seven years old, even though I did not know anyone that lived there or how important the architect was, I knew it was a treasure lost and I cried.

Howard Hoerster owned Hoerster Tire & Supply, which was previously located at 270 W. San Antonio St. (now Gourmage). They tore down everything but the large magnolia tree that stood outside the solarium window. They filled in the basement, smoothed it over and built a brand new 6500 square foot brick tire store and service center. The building served thousands of automobiles over time as Hoerster, Goodyear Service Center and DeStefano Tire before being refitted as an office building a couple of years ago.

I have visited Europe and have seen for myself the way different communities hold on to their culture. They still live and work in places that are sometimes 1,000 years old. The structures are proudly maintained for the next generation. Even in areas where war has scarred the land, buildings show dedication to restoration. They are not torn down or drastically altered for the new and trendy. I hope that New Braunfels can embrace and support our historical organizations and commissions in trying to prevent our architectural treasures from becoming “ghosts” as New Braunfels continues to grow at breakneck speed.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg

Change. One of the few constants of life. Because change is occurring rapidly in and around New Braunfels, rural cemeteries are endangered. Cemeteries and graveyards are sometimes the only connection to the history of an area. York Creek Cemetery is one of historical importance, as it documents the lives of early permanent inhabitants of the York Creek and Hunter communities.

Where the heck is York Creek, you might ask? The actual York Creek begins somewhere around Wegner Road in Comal County and travels southeast through Hays and Guadalupe counties before flowing into the San Marcos River. The creek naturally attracted farmers to the resource.

Along about 1867, a man by the name of Andrew Jackson Hunter settled his family on York’s Creek (now York Creek). He operated a thousand-acre cotton farm. The land was strategically located along a stagecoach line that ran from New Braunfels to San Marcos before the railroad.

In 1880, the townsite of Hunter was established with the arrival of the International and Great Northern Railroad. By 1883 a post office opened in Gustavus A. Schleyer’s general store, with the owner as postmaster. Schleyer’s store, a cotton gin, a grocery store, and a saloon were in operation there by 1884, when Hunter had about sixty residents. By 1890, Hunter was a bustling community of 200 that included two saloons, a barbershop, a blacksmith, a wagonmaker, a meat market, and a gin and gristmill.

York’s Creek Cemetery came into being on October 7, 1882, when Ernst Gruene, Jr. sold one acre of land to D. G. Posey, Frank Tate, and Charles Crawford to be used as a community cemetery. Posey, Tate and Crawford were the first cemetery trustees. The cemetery doubled in size in 1904, when William Simon, Sr. sold one acre of land to cemetery trustees, D. G. Posey, Charles Crawford, and William Simon, Jr. That is when they formed an association and officially named it York Creek Cemetery. They elected D. G. Posey, C. B. Crawford, and H. Wiegreffe as commissioners. A. J. Wallhoefer was elected secretary and treasurer. Currently, Mr. James B. Skarovsky and his wife, Lynn, are the only trustees of record.

There are over 180 burials recorded in York Creek Cemetery. According to existing records the earliest burial in the newly established cemetery was John B. Taylor, in 1885. Seven of the graves must have been moved to York Creek, as the death dates predate the cemetery. Most of those buried in the cemetery were born in Texas although at least 16 were born in Germany. Over half of those buried bear German surnames. Occupations of the deceased and their families included farmers, homemakers, laborers, railroad workers, blacksmiths, military, and saloon keepers. Hobart Gilmore, who was killed in 1972 Flood, is also buried there.

Walking through the cemetery, it is easy to see the various family groupings with over 68 different surnames (no way to write about all of them!). Some families are represented in greater numbers. The Soechtings have twenty-one graves. Friedrich Heinrich Andreas Söchting (German spelling) immigrated to Texas in 1852. While preparing to emigrate, he met Christine Katarina Gold, also planning to emigrate. Since married couples received special consideration, they married, before leaving Germany. They moved inland to New Braunfels and in 1866 they purchased 17.5 acres on York Creek. In 1878, they purchased an additional 338 acres for 4.90 an acre. They raised five children.. The children in turn had large families and most continued to farm in the area.

In 1850, Henry Rutherford Crawford and wife, Ann B. Wilson Crawford moved from Tennessee and purchased a 300-acre farm on Hunter Road. The couple established a school in the nearby Bonito settlement. Prior to that time, the first school was conducted in their home with their daughter, Lizzie Crawford, as teacher. Lizzie also taught at the Hunter School. In her will, she designated 500 to build the cemetery fence. Her brother, Charles B. Crawford was one of the first cemetery trustees.

Frances D’Gress Posey came to Texas at age 5 in a wagon train with his parents, brothers and aunts from Tennessee. The Posey family arrived in Texas at the Watson Campgrounds in Comal County (or could be Hays County) in early fall of 1853. That was their home for several years. Eventually, his parents, John Bennett and Amanda Posey, farmed cotton on 539 acres in the York Creek area. Frances D’Gress Posey married Mary Elizabeth Neill in 1869. Frances was a farmer and one of the first cemetery association trustees. He, his wife and many descendants are buried in the York Creek Cemetery. Posey land is now part of TXI.

John Dix Watson conveyed one acre of land in exchange for 1 for the nearby Watson School. It was located on Neill homestead land off Watson Lane. The school was closed in 1949 and combined with other schools as the Goodwin School. Mr. Watson was a Confederate veteran. He is one of seven veterans buried in York Creek

James Curtis Riley was a saloon keeper and started Riley’s Tavern in Hunter after the repeal of Prohibition. Riley’s Tavern has a Texas Historical Commission marker and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the oldest taverns in Texas and reported to have the first liquor license issued after the repeal.

Alwin Merz was a trustee when the cemetery was established. He was a farmer married to Annie Braune Merz. Alwin’s parents were John and Elise Strempel Merz, who immigrated from Germany and farmed the York Creek area. Both couples are buried in the York Creek Cemetery.

York Creek Cemetery is a perfect example of a rural cemetery: quietly resting under huge oak trees, protected by a chain link fence with rock posts. Unfortunately, the two-acre cemetery is no longer located among the green pastures and farmhouses. The York Creek/Hunter community was sheared in half when Interstate 35 was built; and the cemetery is now surrounded by industrial warehouses just off one of the most travelled highways in Texas. Little has changed inside the York Creek Cemetery, but much has changed around this true Comal County treasure that holds so much history. It was designated a Historic Texas Cemetery by the Comal County Historical Commission 2022.

Sources: Handbook of Texas Online; The Comal County Historical Commission; Jim Skarovsky; Paul Soechting; Wilfred Schlather; John Coers; Karen Boyd.

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I should have known that receiving a scanned copy of a pencil sketch of “The Meusebach-Comanche Treaty” would send me down yet another historical “bunny trail.” The sketch was signed in block letters — “FRIEDRICH 1847” — and depicts hundreds of Commanche, horses, Meusebach, U.S. Indian agent Maj. Neighbors and others.

Family lore says it was created by Wilhelm Friedrich as he accompanied Meusebach at this historic event. The facts are that the Meusebach-Comanche Treaty was signed in May 1847 and Wilhelm Friedrich arrived in Galveston in July 1847. Hmmmm…

Ferdinand Roemer was an eyewitness to the treaty and describes it in vivid detail (Roemer’s Texas 1845-1847); he is enamored with the ways and lifestyle of the Comanche. It is entirely possible that Wilhelm Friedrich read or knew of this description for many details match up. Friedrich was friends with some of the Freethinkers that had begun the short-lived commune of Bettina in Llano County (September 1847 to Spring 1848) and who later moved to the Boerne area. The sketch was found among papers in Boerne belonging to the rather famous San Antonio surgeon, Ferdinand L. Herff, one of Bettina’s founders.

In uncovering this information, I stumbled upon some other Friedrichs who played a role in our history — Otto Friedrich and his brother Eduard. The Friedrich brothers, born in Laxe, Altenberg, met up with our beloved Ferdinand Lindheimer at the home of Dr. George Engelmann in Illinois in 1834. The three young men heard stories about Texas that pulled at their adventurous spirits. Otto had studied Rechtswissenschaft (Jurisprudence) and Naturwissenschaft (Natural Science) and had come to America to study Insektenwelt (Entomology). You can see now why the brothers got along with Lindheimer.

I’ll let you read A Life Among the Texas Flora by Minetta Altgelt Goyne for the details, but in a nutshell:

Lindheimer and the Freidrich brothers make their way to NOLA; catch a slow-going schooner with an uneducated captain to Veracruz; meet up with more German expats; get into trouble because of their moustaches, and get involved in a coffee plantation, a corn milling business and a distillery. Along the way, Lindheimer collects plants and seashells and Otto collects butterflies and bugs. Eventually all three make their way to Texas — and then to New Braunfels — although not together.

Brother Otto first goes back to Germany to find a wife (the wedding never happened) and comes to Texas in the 1850s. He turns up in the Comal County 1860 Census, 60 years of age. The Neu Braunfelser Zeitung mentions in 1857, that he lived in the hill country on the Guadalupe River near Gruene. Otto was well-known as a naturalist, living alone and collecting his insects. He was “well-off” but lived frugally; his small log cabin furnished with only a hand-crafted bed frame with straw mattress, a plain table and a pair of rawhide-seated chairs. In the 1870s, his alma mater, the University of Leipzig, set out a prize for the best research and latest discoveries in entomology. At 70+ years, Otto shipped the university a complete collection of Texas entomology together with all scientific classification and won the prize. He died in New Braunfels on October 11, 1880.

I haven’t found brother Eduard yet, however I did see a note that said “the Friedrich brothers apparently first settled in Guadalupe County and came to Comal County probably in the early 1850s.” Perhaps Eduard remained in the Seguin area; that’s another trail for another time.

Interestingly, another brother, Oscar, also shows up in the Comal County 1860 Census, 48 years of age with wife and three children. An 1855 newspaper article says he knows how to treat snakebite. Oscar lived up at Jacob’s Creek in a beautiful two-story stone house. He was a farmer and involved with the cotton ginning up in that area. He gave some of his river land for the Jacob’s Creek school (later known as Mountain Valley). Besides being a farmer, it turns out that Oscar was also an artist.

Oscar had a son, named Otto (because that’s the crazy kind of things families do) who was three in 1860. Little Otto becomes known as a very, very good hunter. His father Oscar immortalized his prowess in many works of art in pencil and oil. One of the works is in the Sophienburg’s collections. Had I found a clue to the “Muesebach Treaty” sketch?

On comparison, it is very evident that two different artists rendered the sketches. The mystery continues, but the search has led to another interesting story. Stay tuned for the next column, where we’ll continue the saga of the Friedrich boys.

Sources:

• Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, Comal County Census, 1860, 1870, 1880, Oscar Haas collection, Frederick Oheim collection
• Roemer’s Texas 1845-1847, Ferdinand Roemer
• A Life Among the Texas Flora, Minetta Altgelt Goyne
• A New Land Beckoned, Chester William and Ethel Hander Geue
• Wanderers Between Two Worlds, Douglas Hale

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Almost 70 years ago (1947), local historian Oscar Haas was asked by the Texas State Historical Association to compile the origin and history of all name-places in Comal County. Haas’ histories and thousands of others are what make up the Handbook of Texas that can be accessed online. One of these places was the small settlement of Neighborsville across the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels. This settlement was founded by Jacob deCordova, who called himself “The Wanderer.” You will know why when you read his story his story.

Jacob Raphael de Cordova was born in Spanish Town on the island of Jamaica in 1808 to Raphael and Judith deCordova. His father was a coffee grower and exporter. During the Spanish Inquisition, many Jewish people were forced out of Spain if they did not convert to Catholicism. The Jewish deCordova family moved to Jamaica. Jacob’s mother died when he was born and he was reared in England by an aunt. In the 1820s, Jacob and his father moved to Philadelphia. Jacob was well educated and learned English, French, Spanish, German, Hebrew and several Indian dialects. He, no doubt, had a “gift of gab.” In Philadelphia, Jacob married Rebecca Sterling and they eventually had five children.

At age 25, he moved back to Jamaica and founded a newspaper, the Kingston Daily Gleaner. He and his wife left there after three years and traveled to New Orleans where he became a merchant, shipping goods to Texas during and following the Texas Revolution. His next “wandering” took him to Galveston, and then to Houston. Here he was elected a representative for Harris County to the Legislature of the State of Texas. After losing the election for his second term, he moved to Austin and then began traveling all over Texas acquiring land to sell. He had a land agency with his brother that surveyed and performed land transactions. It was one of the largest to operate in the Southwest. DeCordova was hired to lay out the town of Waco in 1848-1849. He was also an expert map maker and compiled a map of Texas in 1849 with cartographer Robert Creuzbaur. He was an avid writer of immigrant guides and travel books, and also published newspapers, the Texas Herald out of Houston and the Southwestern American out of Austin. He became well-known by giving lectures all over the United States and even Europe, to attract settlers.

In the 1850s the family moved five miles outside of Seguin where he built a large house for his wife and children. He named it “Wanderer’s Retreat.” A retreat became necessary during the Civil War when he experienced financial issues. The land business slowed and he had overextended himself. He died in 1868 and was buried in Kimball on his land near the Brazos River.

There are many places in Texas named for or by deCordova. There is the De Cordova Bend on the Brazos (south of Fort Worth), the De Cordova Bend Dam (Lake Granbury), Cordova Road (Guadalupe County), Jacobs Creek (Comal County), Cordova Creek (Comal County), Jacobs Well (Hays County) and then there is Rebecca Creek (Comal County) named after deCordova’s wife, Rebecca, Wanderer’s Creek (north Texas running into the Red River), and Phineas Creek, named for his brother (Brazos tributary). He was known as the “Texas Champion Creek-Namer.”

Neighborsville

By 1846, when the legislature formed Comal County, immigrants arriving looked for land. Besides New Braunfels and Comaltown, many settlements emerged in the county outside of New Braunfels. Because of the good farm land on the east side of the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels, settlements developed such as Hortontown (Horton’s League). On the same side of the Guadalupe River as Hortontown but to the south, Neighborsville was established.

In the early years, if you were traveling up from the coast to New Braunfels, you would travel on the east side of the Guadalupe River, crossing into New Braunfels at the Nacogdoches Road crossing or you would use the ferry a little farther up river at the confluence of the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers. Seguin Street (avenue now) was the main street in New Braunfels but you had to cross the Guadalupe first to get there.

Now let’s look at DeCordova’s connection to Neighborsville. In 1851, the land that became Neighborsville was surveyed and a map made by J. Groos for Jacob deCordova. The location was across the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels and deCordova was considered the founder. The land was actually laid out into acreage plots. There were five streets originally laid out that included Benner, Broadway (still there), Rusk (still there), Shaw (changed to Churchill) and Jacobs (changed to Wright). There was also a Seguin Street that changed to Horton Avenue but I drove over to the area and could not find it. The Nacogdoches Road or Camino Real ran right through the middle of the area and the Guadalupe River with the river crossing was one of the boundaries. DeCordova thought the settlement would be ideal right on the Guadalupe River near the Camino Real crossing. If you drive on Churchill Drive, you will see the El Camino Real de las Tejas National Historic Trail signs showing the road as an original route where the first immigrants crossed the river. (You can see the signs also on Nacogdoches Road.)

In order to imagine the area as deCordova saw it, you have to remove the old Mission Valley Mill Plant, the railroad, Loop 337, and the US 81 and IH 35 north to south highways.

The land was situated in the northwest end of the Esnaurizer Eleven Leagues grant and was bound on the north by the Horton League. Hortontown was the next-door-neighbor. In 1830, General Antonio Esnaurizer petitioned the Governor of Coahuila and Texas for a grant of land. He wanted to establish farming and ranching between the San Marcos River and the Guadalupe River. Someone had to take possession of the land to survey and administer the grant. First, Juan Martin de Veramendi was appointed, then James Bowie and finally Jacob deCordova. The Esnaurizer grant begins in Seguin, follows the San Marcos-Austin Road almost to San Marcos, then follows the Austin-New Braunfels Road to the Guadalupe River. It then goes to a mile below McQueeney and then back up around the Clements and Branch leagues to Seguin. DeCordova received land as payment for his services.

Guadalupe County once extended north-east of the Guadalupe River right up to the Nacogdoches Road crossing but in 1853, thirty-one settlers from Neighborsville and Hortontown petitioned the legislature to be a part of Comal County. If you are looking for records between 1845 and 1853 for this area, you might try the Guadalupe County Courthouse.

“For $1 and in consideration for advancement of Religion and Education,” Jacob deCordova conveyed two acres of land for the St. Martin’s Evengelical Lutheran Church and Churchill School. This beautiful quaint little church can be seen as you drive down Loop 337 and at one time was located next to the Churchill School that is part of the New Braunfels Conservation Society campus. The church was moved to its current location in the Hortontown Cemetery in 1968.

In 1935, after seventy years, the bodies of Jacob and Rebecca deCordova were moved to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, an honor afforded only to those who made an outstanding contribution to the state. Jacob deCordova was one of those citizens.

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Margarethe Schertz was only 12 years old when she came to Texas with her parents in 1844. If she were alive today, she could tell us a story and a half about Texas, Comal County, and especially New Braunfels. It’s a unique story of an apparently strong woman.

Just like the Germans that left their homeland for a better life in Texas, another group from Riedisheim, the Alsatian Providence of France, emigrated. Both groups were looking for opportunities in Texas after facing economic problems. Conditions were even worse in Alsacian France, and allegiance to the monarchy was foremost to any idea of freedom.

A book called Schertz compiled by the Schertz Historical Preservation Committee stated that the Industrial Revolution brought wealth to the French upper class but extreme poverty to farmers. Between 1842 and 1869 thousands left the area and came to Texas. Opening new markets was one of the goals that the immigrants hoped would happen as a result of colonization.

When Texas became a republic in 1836, money and people to settle were scarce. Gen. James Hamilton, land commissioner for the republic, appointed Henri Castro to handle land sales. Castro, a successful French businessman managed a land grant sale. Castro’s ethical business reputation was in question in Texas and France. He recruited all over France but was not successful. Eventually, he signed up the number of colonists to make the trip to Texas from Alsace and Germany. In 1843, the 129 Castro recruits left Antwerp, Belgium on their way to Texas.

Margarethe Schertz, with her father Joseph Schertz and his wife Anna Marie, plus six of her unmarried siblings boarded the ship to Texas. The Schertz family left four of their children in France, to join them later. Margarethe was the youngest child brought along. After a very difficult trip across the seas to Galveston, they were expecting to be met by Henri Castro. He was a no show and they realized they were on their own. They headed for the area of Castro’s land grant west of San Antonio. Many abandoned the group or settled near San Antonio but by spring of 1844, most were living in poverty at the San Antonio mission grounds. Seven members of the group died, including the mother and two children of the Schertz family. They remained camped at the old Alamo site for nearly a year.

Giving up hope of being rescued by Castro, the family decided to return to France. On the way back to the coast, they fatefully ran into Prince Carl, leader of the German Adelsverein group. He had just left San Antonio after purchasing the Comal Tract and he was on his way to the coast to be with the first group of immigrants. The prince was sympathetic to the Castro group and invited two of the families to join him. One of the families was that of Joseph Schertz.

When the Schertz family joined the first group of German immigrants, they were led to the site of New Braunfels by Adelsverein Treasurer Jean Jacques von Coll. He becomes significant in the life of Margarethe Schertz later in the story.

The first founding families that arrived in New Braunfels prompted the drawing of lots. The Schertz family was part of this drawing and the family also bought land in Comal County and at the Cibolo Creek where the creeks separate the county of Bexar from the county of Guadalupe. The word Cibolo means buffalo. The area was a favorite hunting ground of Native American tribes. Eventually the settlement at the Cibolo was called Schertz after the older brother of Margarethe Schertz, Sebastian Schertz. Other family members stayed in NB and the hill country.

How does Jean Jacques von Coll fit into this puzzle? He was chosen to lead the immigrants on their inland trek because he had been trained as a lieutenant in the Duchy of Nassau military before he decided to immigrate to Texas. His military background would help protect the immigrants against Indians. He was singled out by Prince Carl for this leadership role and he was put in charge of the safety of the immigrants. When he crossed the Guadalupe with the founders of the colony, he was considered a founder and given lot #25 on the Main Plaza. Here he built one of only two saloons in the colony. Saloons were very lucrative business. One of the lots he purchased later was an acre lot (30.9 acres) running from San Antonio St. to present Coll St.

I’m guessing that von Coll didn’t pay too much attention to 12-year-old Margarethe Schertz on the trip up from the coast, but five years later he must have noticed her. In 1849, they were married in the German Protestant Church. Two girls were born to the couple, Kathinka and Elizabeth. In 1852, von Coll was elected mayor of NB when tragedy occurred. A disturbed settler came into the saloon complaining about the Adelsverein. In true military fashion, von Coll challenged the man to a dual. When von Coll turned his back to get his weapons, the man grabbed von Coll’s gun and shot him in the back. The settler was tried but not convicted. Margarethe was left with the two girls to raise alone.

A new chapter enters her life in the form of Carl Heinrich Guenther, known as Heinrich Guenther. He was a well-known, established citizen of New Braunfels. Guenther had received a higher education at the University of Halls in Germany. Records say that he came to Texas following some trouble with the church for playing secular music. Heinrich Guenther’s education afforded him the opportunity to teach at the New Braunfels Academy. His love of music prompted him to be one of the early directors of the local singing society, the Germania which was established in 1850. He was very active in the state Saengerbund.

Heinrich Guenther married the widow Margarethe Schertz von Coll. They had six children of their own for a total of eight with her two. The family lived in the house at 624 Coll St. which still stands across the street from Carl Schurz Elementary School.

Heinrich began a brewery at the foot of Bridge St. on the Comal River. Some of the remains are still there today. When he died in 1870, Margarethe took over running the brewery. It is believed that she was the only female brewer in Texas. Both Margarethe and Heinrich are buried in the old New Braunfels Cemetery. On his headstone is a Latin phrase meaning “He was fond of children and a cultivator of the Muses.” A Texas Historical Marker commemorates Carl Heinrich Guenther in the New Braunfels cemetery.

Margarethe Schertz von Coll Guenther was a survivor and a true pioneer woman.

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